Posts

Electronic restoration.

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As stated in my first post on this Saba Wildbad 100 restoration, the paper capacitors had to go. However I gave it a quick cursory power up using my Lamp Limiter (A 40 watt lamp in series with the power cable to absorb any nasty surprises in the radio) and it is confirmed: the radio lit up and talked to me on FM with a distorted voice. The Shortwave selection also worked but medium and long wave were silent. Even the magic eye lit up. Not a bad start, so time to change some capacitors.. A few screws and de-soldering the speakers reveals the chassis and a good number of paper capacitors. Two were of particular interest to me: the ones isolating the output stage of the detector going to the preamp tube (ECH81), and the other from the preamp to the power amp (EL84). The big paper bombs waiting to explode the radio.  Their days were numbered. Following a cleaning and repairing the dial cord for the directional antenna, I discovered that there was no reception on M...

Buying the Radio.

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The SABA Wildbad 100 was produced in Germany in 1959 and 1960. The radio was one of a range designed by a famous designer Albrecht von Goertz , who also designed the BMW 503 and 507  models, among other things. I have restored a number of tube radios by now and have some experience with knowing what to look for in the plethora of items available online. Most importantly the radio should have all of its parts and should at least light up when turned on. If it plays, even badly or makes some noise, you're on the right track. Sometimes you buy with your heart and not your head. That's what I did this time.. At first glance it looks like I got a good deal. Well yes I suppose I did. 30 Euro doesn't get you much these days so no complaints. On the front the ON/OFF button is missing, but the switch still works. The tweeter cover on the left side has some heat damage.. The back panel begins to hint at what lies within.. see the dust and cobwebs.. The famous SABA...